Maxine's Story

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MaxArchive In the Beginning...
*t of the woods and over to the Max and Gus. "Hello young one." he said to Gus.

Young?! "I'm eleven." Gus said confidently, trying to hide his scowl. Great, he had to drag over another picnic table for this guy. 

"Oh, my apologies sir." Hanson said with a smile.


"Alright, well I'm gonna to gather some firewood." Max told them "Oh, Padre, you didn't happen to notice anyone around did you? I wouldn't want to draw anyone in with a fire."

Gus was already off to a picnic table several feet away. He had a job to do and wanted to prove his worth to Max. Grabbing the end, he pulled. No use. Gus walked around the backside and started to push, slowly moving it out of it's position.

"The only things I have seen are the soulless creatures that killed the man I mentioned earlier." Hanson said, "The few that were traveling with him scattered and ran off to the south."

"I think we'll be alright with a fire then." Max said, thinking about saving her Sterno. She moved off to gather firewood from the treeline where she could still keep an eye on Gus. She had a tendency to trust a priest more than a normal man, but she wouldn't sleep soundly for a few knights if he continued to stay with them.

"Hey mister- can ya help me move this thing?" Gus asked, still pushing the fourth picnic table over to the other three.

"Yes I can." Hanson said moving over to the bench where Gus was at. "Where are we moving it too?" He asked as he started pushing.

"Over by those other tables. Maybe we can flip it over as a sort of roof, fort thing." Gus said as he helped push.

Max brought back a few arm loads of firewood while the two of them worked. All her rules had gone down the drain, but she promised herself she wouldn't let the priest latch onto her like she had the boy... That of course remained to be seen.

Hanson helped Gus push the bench over to the others, "You want to put it on top of the others?"

"Sure... you think that would work as a roof just in case it rained?" Gus asked. Judging by the clouds, it was very unlikely that it would, but he was naive and proud of his fort.

"More like a coffin if something comes for us." Max said coming back with a second pile of wood and depositing it near the "fort". "What about leaning them against the bathroom?" She asked pointing in that direction. "We could put two long ways and one on top so you can have your roof. Done properly it'll help contain the heat from the fire.

"You don't think that would funnel 'the smell' right to us." Hanson said, he tried to be slightly vague for the benefit of the child.

"You're not seeing what I'm saying." Max told him and drew in the grass with her foot. "Bathroom." She drew a straight line, then at the end of that line, turned it into an L, then topped off the other end of the long line with another short one. "And one on top for Gus. See what I mean?"

"I think so. What about you?" Hanson asked, looking down to Gus.

"...I have no idea what she is doing." Gus said flatly.

"Making your shelter more formidable." Max told him. "It'll still have the roof you want."

"Oh....well.... ok... but I can't do it by myself." Gus admitted. "That is, I COULD, but I don't want to get all sweaty."

Max smiled down at him, actually smiled. He was a sly kid, smart in his own right. Not the kinda kid she had to worry about clubbing her over the head to steal her stuff and that made him worth smiling at. "Alright." She told him. "I'll give you a hand."

"This may be the group I was meant to find." Hanson thought to himself as Max offered to help. Seems he was correct about her being the child's guardian angel.

Gus and Max grabbed the tables and started moving them against the bathroom wall, making a small fort. "How did the traps go? You get this guy instead of breakfast?"

"pretty much." Max told him as they moved the first of the tables and tipped it on it's side so the end of the table sat flush against the wall of the bathroom. They moved the other table the same way. As they moved the third and placed it up side down against the top edge of the other two so a shallow make shift shelter had been made inside. "I'll check the traps again in the morning. I set out a dozen or so, if we're lucky we'll have something.

"You really think it's safe out here though? You know... to sleep like this, out in the open?" Gus asked, still uneasy about the whole thing. He had spent his days and nights in a bus for the past month or so.

"If we were in town or there were houses around, I'd say no." Max told him as she directed him to push his end of the table a little closer to her side so the roof was evenly placed. "But out here, I think we're ok. Besides we'll hear them coming before they're on us... or I will at least." She thought about adding "I won't let anything happen to you" but decided against it. They'd not been together for twenty four hours yet, that was a little early for getting attached to someone. Besides, if the Padre turned out to be ok, it might suit her to just leave Gus with him... She began to dismiss that idea almost as soon as she'd thought of it. She'd taken the priest down quickly and disarmed him. She, a woman, with a little training sure, but she'd been a mechanic, nothing special. She had a little extra muscle from working on cars and keeping on the move, but if a man really wanted to "Thump her one" (as her ex husband had liked to say) she wouldn't have much of a chance unless she were armed. The priest might be able to fend off a couple of zombies, maybe even a dozen given enough ammo, but he wouldn't be very good against things that could think. The outcast and unwanted scum who preyed on those just trying to survive. Like those men who would have spoiled that sixteen year old girl before she'd had a chance to scream for help. Leaving the boy with a clumsily priest was out of the question... But she didn't exactly find her self complaining about having the boy as company. For now, she figured she'd keep him.

"The only bad thing about this fort-..err shelter, is that there are probably a bunch of spiders on that wall." Gus said, tilting his head. "C'mere Barnaby." he began, hurrying over to his cat, who was sleeping softly on his backpack. "We need to you keep watch for bugs." he told his comrade, bringing his things over to the tables.

Max's face tightened as she tried not to smiled too broadly. Smiling reminded her that she was growing too comfortable. She hadn't looked up and checked their surrounding area for five whole minuets and that was dangerous. Not because she feared that the priest would suddenly attack them, but because here she was, telling Gus that they would be safe and any number of undead could have crept up on them. She took the time now to raise her head and squint through the sunlight to make sure nothing had decided to shamble towards them. She let the boy tend to his cat and their insects and, keeping her eyes peeled for things she probably should have seen earlier, headed for the pile of wood she had gathered so she might move it closer to their fort... um, er, shelter. 

Hanson helped move the tables to where they were needed before Gus ran off to get his cat. "Remarkable the strength of a child." He said to Max, "Even in a Hell like this he shows no fear or weakness."

"He's been boxed up." Max told the Padre. "Traveling with his father in a cross town bus... till his father died and Gus couldn't drive it any further. He's not been out on his feet, he's not seen his life flash before his eyes yet..." She thought about adding "His spirit hasn't been crushed yet." But again, she chose to keep her thoughts to herself.

Hanson shook his head, "This life is not one anybody should have to go through, but surviving it will bring us that much closer to God. Whether it be by bringing his light back to this world, or by walking next to him through the gates of Heaven." He looked over at Gus, "But I feel he will definitely survive the hardships ahead."

Max didn't say anything. She, like the Padre was Catholic, but Catholics had a nasty habit of loosing their faith when things began to roll downhill. If God was really up there, how could He have let all this happen? Then, just as she thought about it she considered the great flood of Noah's time and Sodom and Gomorrah. When the world had filled with debauchery and evil, He'd simply snuffed it out like a candle. Was that what was happening now? Had the world grown so evil that these things had been allowed to swarm over the world, destroying everything in their path? That's probably exactly what was happening. After all, once all the humans were gone, what would they eat then? They kept rotting, it's not like their flesh regenerated. Inside a year or two, with nothing to feed on, the zombies would die off. The world would be left clean again. A million or so years would pass and after the old world died away things would begin anew. Perhaps some species that didn't systematically try to destroy themselves like humans had.

Gus was sitting happily under their fort, letting Barnaby look around and sniff the area out. Opening his pack, he looked around for something to munch on as the adults chatted a few yards away. He was thirsty, but didn't have anything.

Max found herself watching Gus again rather than looking over her shoulder for unwanted company. She tore her eyes away and knelt to build up the fire. It was too worm just yet for a fire but she had promised the priest something to eat and he did look rather wan compared to the boy. Saving the last box of her dry kitchen matches she knelt and took the trusty magnesium flint and steel from the inside breast pocket of her jacket. With a hand full of dry weeds from next to the bathroom she had the fire smoking and flickering in a few moments. The Magnesium caught as easily as a match would have and the thinnest bits of twig and dried leaves began to burn with hopeful flames.

Max would be surprised to know that Hanson was thinking about the same thing she was. That this whole thing was a divine punishment brought down upon them, the only difference is he believed the Devil had more to do with it then God. "I'm glad that I stumbled upon you two, I was beginning to think that I was the last person in the area. That and I am admittedly not very good at wilderness survival."

Max chose not to comment on his lack of survival prowess and decided to ask, "You have any gear?" She intended to ask him what it was he usually used to feed and water himself. If they were going to be traveling together, they probably needed to find new supplies quick. she had enough for herself for a few weeks, but with three people that wouldn't last long and mre's were becoming harder and harder to find.

"I ran out of food yesterday while searching for the remainder of the zombies I mentioned earlier." Hanson said, looking as if he was remembering all this vividly. "And my pack got snagged while I was trying to hide from a small foraging group of some local gang. I know where it is at, I just haven't made my way back to grab it. Not even sure if there is anything useful left in it, but I have to make sure."

Gus left Barnaby alone and crawled out of their little fort. He stepped back and looked at the odd arrangement of tables, then to the roof of the bathroom. Gus bet his bubblegum that he could climb up there. Taking the challenge, he started to climb the tables, having a little adventure of his own. He missed messing around and getting into trouble. It all seemed so long ago that he was able to climb trees and play around outside in the park. Reaching the top, he jumped and worked his way onto the roof.

"Is it anywhere near where I found you?" Max asked the Padre. "I've traps to check in the morning."

"No, it was a mile or two down the highway." Hanson said right before he spotted Gus. "Um, I don't that that is a good idea."

Gus wasn't listening as he pulled himself up completely. "Hah!" he beamed, proud that he had made it to the top. Gus looked ahead, over some of the trees. He wasn't high enough to see over the pines, but it was easy to get a good view from here.

Max looked up at Gus' exclamation and squinted as the sun stung her eyes. "Well, if you think you can keep from getting fu-..." she stopped. She was going to make reference to him getting sodomized, then remembered he was a priest after all. "... From getting your head knocked in, then go get it in the morning while I'm checking my traps. They'll be someone here close enough for Gus that way."

"That sounds like a good plan." Hanson said as he continued to watch Gus to make sure that he didn't slip off and kill himself. "I could go get it tonight, might be better to keep hidden from any of the living servants, the gang members." He added the last part to make sure she knew who he was talking about.

"I had a run in with some yesterday before finding the boy..." Max said. "They won't be hurting any more people if your interested."

Hanson didn't say anything, just stood there and watched Gus look around while atop the bathrooms.

Gus was just doing what he should be doing....being a kid. He hadn't seen anyone his age in a long while now, not wanting to think of what happened to everyone. Beaming a smile, letting the world see his crooked teeth, he stood proudly on the roof for a while, before heading to the edge to come down.

Up there Gus was fine. It wasn't a far enough fall to kill him and so she wasn't really worried. She had however had a thought concerning the Padre. "Do..." She began to ask. "Would you..." Did she really want to ask this considering they'd be traveling together for no telling how long? "Would you be interested in taking confession?" She was Catholic after all and seeing that white collar peeking out at her had put it on her mind. She hadn't confessed since she were a child, probably since she'd been Gus' age. She didn't want to confess for the paltry sins of a teenage girl. She didn't even think she needed to confess over killing those two men yesterday. There were a few things in her past that she was really remorseful over, but most recently it was leaving that girl behind. She wouldn't take a girl under her wing, but the first boy she ran across she began acting like a mother hen to her chick. For a woman who hated men she'd too eagerly taken up the boy. Perhaps because she saw it as her chance to change him. To not let him grow up like the rest...

Before the priest could answer, there was a loud SNAP from the bathroom's roof. Gus didn't have time to scream as he he fell through a weakspot, into the men's bathroom. Dust puffed out of the crater hole he had made in the roof. The two could hear metal clanging against metal and wooden beams smacking against the concrete floor of the bathroom.

At the sound of snapping things and the exclaimed squawk of the boy Max jolted and looked to the roof. She cursed herself for having not checked it or at least been keeping a better eye on him. "GUS!" She shouted and started up the side of their makeshift shelter.

Hanson saw him fall and ran to the bathroom doors. He had a bad feeling that he knew which one the child had fallen into and that fear was confirmed when he checked the womens and found nothing. Finding the door locked he frowned before pulling out his shotgun and blowing the door handle off.

Max cringed inwardly when she hear the sound of the Padre's shotgun. The sound would carry for miles and now there would be no chance of restful sleep tonight. That didn't matter now though. Now she had to see to Gus. She reached the hole just as the Padre breached the door below. "Gus!" She shouted down, hoping that he hadn't hurt himself, or really seen the disturbing mess he had fallen into. She eased off into the hole and let herself fall. she felt the ground beneath her feet and was glad that her boots laced as high as they did. She nearly wrenched her ankle when it slipped on a chunk of maggoty flesh. "Gus, are you ok?" She asked, all the wile thinking, Don't open your eyes...

There was no blood. At least, not fresh blood from him. He was fallen in the main hall of the bathroom, laying on his side in the old blood. "It hurts!" he cried, holding onto his shoulder. The tears were flowing now from the pain and sheer shock of the incident. When the priest let in the light from the door, he saw that mangled corpse of the man who'd been trapped here, only a foot away from him. "AHHH!" he screamed in a very high pitch. Gus's feet scrape against the tiles, frantically trying to kick himself back.

When Gus kicked back he met the wet rotted, bloated body of a headless zombie. Max heard the thing slosh thickly when Gus' hand breached the tallowy thin flesh of the thing's stomach. She moved forward, covering his eyes with her hand and scooping him up with the other. He was remarkably lighter than she would have expected. Slipping in old rot she dropped to her knee and began to pull herself up with her other leg. She brushed past the Padre and outside where the fresh air was a blessing to the stench stuck in their noses. "Your alright." She found herself saying. "You'll be ok. It can't hurt you. Your gonna be fine, your gonna be fine." She rattled like this, holding Gus to her as she moved him further from the mess of the bathroom.

Gus was sobbing and clinging onto Max like mad. He had seen zombies get splattered by the front of a bus, but that was completely different compared to being dumped in a pool of zombie and human flesh and muck. There was filth on his clothes and arms from skidding across the floor. The dark reality he had been trying to avoid since he met Max was settling in. "I want to go home! I HATE THIS-I HATE IT! I DON'T WANNA DIE OUT HERE! I- I don't wanna die...!!" he said breathlessly between cries, quivering against Max's chest. "Please please please please.."

"Shhh." She shushed him, finally stopping half way between where the tables had been and the restroom. "Shh Gus." She began to rock him back and forth. "If you don't calm down they'll be attracted to the sound. Remember the car alarm? You need to calm down. You'll be ok I..." and what she had decided not to say earlier passed through her lips now. "I won't let anything happen to you..."

Hanson stood at the door staring into the room and at the horrific scene that lay before him. He made a cross in the air with his shotgun before shutting the door the best he could. He moved over to where Max was holding Gus, he could smell the reeking filth that they were both covered in. "There is a small creek that I crossed on the way here after I lost my pack. If you would like, I can take you to it and you can both wash up there."

Max could barely hear the padre speaking. She continued to shush Gus, to tell him that she wouldn't let anything happen to him, all the wile running her hands over his arms and legs, trying to determine if he'd hurt himself. Her hand met his collar bone where the shoulder began. As she squeezed to determine the shape of it through his clothes she felt an unnatural bulge.

When Max hit the lump, Gus let out an agonizing yelp. He had trouble moving his arm because the pain was so fierce, but he was too busy recovering from shock to realize his arm was out of socket.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry..." Max winced and loosened her grip on the bulge. She began to feel around more gently. She peeled the rancid rot covered jacket from his shoulders carefully and under the thin material of his t-shirt, she saw very well that the shoulder was dislocated. "Ok... ok..." She said quietly to herself. She had basic medical training. Popping a shoulder back into place was no big deal. After all, she;d popped her own knee back in when she'd dislocated it... sure it hurt like motherfuck, but it had healed... mostly. "Alright... Padre, get me a stick, something for Gus to bite down on. Gus... your not going to like what's about to happen, but it'll make it better..."

"What? What's wrong? Am I gonna die?!" Gus asked, paranoid and spastic.

"You'll be fine!" Max told him quickly. "You're not going to die. You've just popped your shoulder out of place." She thought that sounded better than the word "dislocation" a word like that was apt to frighten Gus more. "It's like when you sprang your ankle... only it doesn't snap back right away. We have to help it do that... but I won't lie, it's going to hurt. Can you be strong for me Gus?"

He sniffled back, his face beat red and full of snot and tears...some dirt skidded on his chin. "Uh huh!" he just wanted this all over.

Max wiped his face, not caring that he was all snotty. She wiped her palm along his face to dry away the mess and rubbed her hand on her pant leg. "It'll be ok..." She told him and turned her eyes up to the Padre. "Stick!" She urged. "Now, move it!"

Hanson nodded and ran over to where the firewood was stacked and found a stick that would fit the purpose. He returned and handed it to Max, she seemed to know exactly what to do and Gus trusted her.

"Alright..." Max whispered, "Easy." She began to lower Gus to the grass, laying him on his back just as the Padre returned. She took the stick without thanking him and told Gus, "I want you to bite down on this understand?"

He nodded, still crying from how painful his shoulder was starting to become. It now that he realized he couldnt move his entire arm. That was making him go into panic mode, but Max kept snapping Gus out of it.

She was leaning over him, slowly stretching his arm out to the side. "Lay still." She told him, making sure his arm was straight. She held the stick over his mouth so he could bite down. "This is going to hurt, but only for a few moments. It's better than leaving it like this. Do you understand? Once it's over I have some pills I can give you to help make the pain go away. Can you stay strong for me Gus?" Meanwhile she snapped her fingers at the Padre and pointed to where she had left her backpack hanging on the sissy bar of the gray ghost.

Catching on to what she was getting at, Hanson ran over to the bike and grabbed the backpack, before rushing back to them. He couldn't help but feel somewhat useless.

He was useless, but Max used him as best she could at the moment. "Ok Gus... are you ready?" She'd wedged the stick between his jaws. "It's gonna hurt. I'm not going to lie to you, but it has to be done. Do you understand?"

Through his tears, he nodded and scrunched his face up. His teeth pierced down on the stick as bark wedging itself between them. The only thing he could think of was his mom and dad and how much he wished they were here.

"Ok..." Max said moving. She'd been hovering over him that whole time, but now, she needed to be next to him. She placed her foot under his arm against his side and the other on his collar bone, holding his small body still so she could have leverage. She gripped his hand with both of her's and began to count. "One... Two..." And when three came she pulled sharply, but not took hard. He was a child after all and it was a good thing most children were made of rubber. As she pulled she felt the muscle strain, the grind of cartilage on bone and the sudden POP of the joint moving back into place.

Gus let out a scream into the stick between his teeth, nearly snapping the thing in half. Pain shot through his body until the final POP. There was a rush of cool...a tingle, then utter and complete soreness. The stick dropped from his jaws and Gus rolled over, holding firm onto his arm.

Max didn't let him roll far. If he moved too much he could mess up his shoulder more than he had. Thankfully none of the rot had gotten to his shirt so they wouldn't have to change the bandage she was about to wrap his arm in. "First aid kit." she told the Padre. "Second pocket." She pulled Gus gently towards her, cradeling him against her chest, laying him across her lap. "It's ok." She told him. "I know it hurts..." It pained her to see the child in pain, but things had to be done. His arm needed to be immobilized, then he needed to be cleaned up.

Hanson grabbed the first aid kit and handed it to Max, all the while mumbling a prayer in hopes of easing Gus's pain and speeding his recovery.

"I'm so sorry." Gus said, with a sniffle, trying to ease his sobbing. He was exhausted as it was on an empty stomach, all this crying and pain was making him even more tired. "Where's... Barnaby?"

"It's ok." Max said taking the first aid kit and using her teeth to pop the lid. She pulled out an ACE bandage. "It's not your fault. You'll be ok, we'll find Barnaby." she turned her face towards the Padre. "Find his cat. Calico. Should be by the bathrooms." She then turned back to Gus. "I have to wrap it, can you sit up?"

With an awkward nod, Hanson turned and walked back towards the bathrooms. He could be heard calling for the cat, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Here Barnaby."

"It hurts... I'm so sorry!" He had made a big mess of everything and to make it worse, zombies were probably on their way to eat them from all his screaming. "I'm sorry!" he repeated, feeling another wave of sorrow sweep over him.

"It's ok." Max cooed. "It's not your fault." If it was anyone's fault it was her's for not watching him. She'd begun unwrapping the bandage and started by securing it around his wrist, them gently moved his arm up till it crossed over his chest to cup his collar bone. Then she wrapped the bandage around behind him to his elbow. she repeated this till the bandage was gone and Gus' arm was secrued to his chest so he couldn't move it. As she worked she spoked to him. Father Hanson will find Barnaby. Though I don't think you should travel right off. We'll spend the night in the girl's bathroom if it makes you feel better. I've got plenty of ammunition..." well, she had more than she probably should carry, because of the weight, but she had enough.

"How long will I have to be like this?" Gus asked, worried that it may play a role in his survival from now on. Though Max promised to watch over him, and that made him feel a bit better.

"A few days." max said making sure his arm was secure. "A week or two at most." she tied the thing off and checked her work. "A day or two after it stops hurting at the max. You'll be ok though. Maybe a little arthritis when you get much older, but I bet it won't be so bad."

Hanson returned a short while later with Barnaby in his arms. "Is this your cat?" He asked Gus with a smile on his face.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, wincing when the movement stung his shoulder. "His name is Barnaby. Dad and me found him on the highway. He's the best cat ever! I want to get him a shiny new collar when we get to Las Vegas."

While they spoke Max reached into the medical kit and pulled out a brown bottle with a white cap. She popped the top, dropped a pill into her hand ans snaped it in half with her nails. She pulled her canteen out of her back and offered the pill to Gus. "Take this. Once it kicks in we're going to get you cleaned up."

"Uhm... I don't like swallowing pills whole. Do you have a chewable?" he asked, hoping Max wouldn't get upset at his suggestion.

"Kid this is Percocet." Max said looking at him seriously. "It doesn't come in chewable. It's this or live with the pain."

"How will I swallow it without choking?" Gus asked, taking the pill and drink from her. He gulped, knowing he would have to try. There was no getting around this.

Max twisted the cap off the canteen. "Put it on your tongue, then take a drink of water. The water will take it down... unless it hurts too much you can let it dissolve under your tongue. It'll kick in faster."

Gus wasn't sure about his, but he had to be strong...just like Max said. He put the pill on his tongue as instructed and took a gulp of water. Gus held it in his mouth, looking at Max with an unsure expression before swallowing hard.

"There... see?" Max said smiling. "Not so bad right? Now it's going to make you feel a little funny, it's supposed to. Don't worry."

Gus let the priest hold Barnaby for now. He seemed to be comfortable there anyway. "I feel so stupid for all of this. Thanks for helping me." Gus said to both of them.

"Boys will be boys." Hanson said, "Being cooped up in that bus for so long must have left you with a bit of a wander lust."

"It's alright Gus." Max said sitting back in the grass. "You'll start getting used to the rules of all this. It's not so difficult surviving out here as long as you know how to stay away from people."

Gus turned and gave the priest a confused expression. Did he think Gus was a...? "What's your name anyway, mister?"

"Hanson, Father Hanson." He said to Gus.

"You have kids? Where are they?" Gus asked, oblivious that this man had a religious profession.

"No, I don't have any kids in the traditional sense. Father is a title granted to me by my profession. Like a policeman is called an Officer." Hanson explained, hoping that he would understand it.

"Ohhh.... weird." he said honestly. "So- do I have to call you 'Dad'?"

"No, if you want to you can just call me Hanson." he said, not wanting this child to feel like his late father was being replaced.

"I'll stick with Padre." Max said slipping into a kneeling position. She squeezed Gus' shoulder gently as his attention was on the father. By now the drug should have kicked in enough that all Gus felt was some mild pressure.

"Ah- be careful!" Gus said, pulling away. It was sore as all hell, but not as excruciating as before. He still didn't want people poking at it yet.

"Sorry..." Max told him. "I thought it'd have kicked in by now since you're so small."

"I'm not THAT small." Gus argued. "I DID collapse that roof, didn't I?" he said, as if proud. He wanted to say that he could take care of himself, but after what had just happen, Gus couldn't bring himself to it.

"Your right, I'm sorry that I offended you." Max said. "Since your so tough you wanna go get cleaned up?"

"Please." he said quickly, not wanting to give the flesh on his knees and feet attention.

"Alright." She told him. "Padre, stow my bike where no one can see it and bring our packs. You can show us where that stream is." She lifted Gus into her arms since they were the ones filthy it wasn't feasible to make the Padre get all mucky.

Hanson nodded and grabbed her bike and vanished into the woods for a bit before returning without it. He grabbed up their packs before walking back to them. "Right this way. It is about 30-45 minutes away from here."

"Alright." She said carrying Gus. "Lead the way Padre."

Hanson took the lead and lead them through the woods for a good while before the trickling sound of water could be heard ahead. A short time later they came upon a clear stream. Hanson set their packs down against a tree. "Here you go."

"I can find out way back." Max said setting Gus down by the water. "Here." She reached in her pack and pulled out a brown plastic package. "I promised you dinner and someone needs to make sure the fire doesn't go out of control. Just follow the directions on the package."

"Thank you." Hanson said as he took the MRE from Max, "Before I head back to the restrooms, I am going to go ahead and retrieve my pack. Since I am already half way to it, it wouldn't make sense to go back to the camp and then get it in the morning."

Max nodded and began unzipping her jacket. "Just be careful." She told him, dropping it aside so she could tend to Gus. Unlike Gus Max hadn't fallen in the muck. She'd just jumped into it and picked him up. He was the one covered, she only needed to clean up certain bits of her clothes. besides, she had some spares.

"I will do my best." Hanson said as he waved bye and headed off further into the woods.

"Alright you." Max said turning towards Gus. "Let's get those pants off."

Gus gave Max a puzzled look. "What?! I'd like some privacy if that's ok..." He was a bit modest as far as that went, not to mention, embarrassed.

"And how do you expect to get cleaned up with only one arm?" Max asked. "I'm not a pervert Gus, you can keep any clothes that aren't bloody but you are not riding on my bike smelling like a zombie."

"My clothes are going to be all wet." he explained, taking off his bus driver hat and setting it down. It was tough, but Gus shimmied out of his tanktop without too much trouble. Next he started with his shorts, unbuckling them and letting it fall to his ankles where he kicked them off. His panties were white with a pink bow in the front and small ruffles around the top and leg holes. The meds had kicked in and he felt next to nothing as far as pain goes. "You sure there aren't leeches?" he asked before sliding in.

"If their are I'll pick them off of you." She told him, gathering up his clothes and not noticing the state of his undergarments. However he did seem a bit fleshy about the chest and stomach. Baby fat was all. "They can't hurt you." She told him and took his clothes down stream with a bar of soap she'd pulled from her bag. "I've got an extra shirt for you to wear while we wait for your clothes to dry." she told him. As she worked on cleaning the blood and gore from his clothes she seemed to be making a conscious effort not to really look at him.

"There better not be leeches in here..." he said hesitantly, slowly walking knee deep into the stream. Banding down, Gus splashed up at himself, cleaning frantically as best he could. It had been a while since he bathed actually.

"Oh here." She said pulling a small bar of hotel soap from her pocket. She'd gotten it out when she'd rummaged through her bag and had forgotten to give it to him. "Noffence, but your a little ripe. I'll be down here behind these bushes so you can have some privacy." ANd she picked up his clothes and moved a few feet away so he could clean up properly. "When you done grab the blue shirt out of my bag. We'll dry these over the fire back at camp. And don;t loose that soap." It was amazing how such things became so precious once you didn't have them so readily. She would have to remember to look for more soap later.

"I wont!" he smiled and waved Max goodbye. He proceeded to clean himself, quite content to finally take a bath. It reminded him of those old memories when him and his parents would go to the public pools together. Before the divorce, that is.

Max washed the blood and grossness from Gus' clothes and hung them to dry amidst the tree branches once they were rinsed. Bar soap wasn't perfect for washing clothes, but it was better than nothing. She removed her boots and knee pads so she could give the pads a once over in the water since she'd slipped when she'd jumped down to him. Her clothes weren't too grimy, but it was quiet here and there was fresh water. She decided to wash her own as well and take advantage of the abundance of water. Once she were done here she'd take a bath also.

Gus went on lathering himself with the soap. Once, he accidentally dropped it into the river. Plunging his arms in, Gus managed to retrieve it. "Phew~" he exhaled, deciding to rinse and be done before the bar of soap got any smaller then what it already was. Dunking his hair in, Gus squezed all of the after that he could out of it and proceeded to exit the water. With his hair wet and flat, he looked like a completely different person...somewhat girly actually.

The shirt max had advised he wear was near the top of her backpack so it wouldn't take much searching to find. Max was surrounded by clothes hanging in the trees around her. She'd done her best to give herself a curtain just in case Gus could see her through the foliage. She'd waited till the current had cleared of most of Gus' suds before getting in. She ran the bar of soap through her hair, lathered and translated the lather to the rest of her body, working quickly just in case the boy decided to sneak a peek.

Gus wished he had some sort of towel to dry off with. Using his hands, he did his best to fling off the water on his chest and arms before slipping the shirt on. It would dry soon anyway.

Max had completely forgotten to grab a clean shirt from her bag and groaned as she ran the bar of soap over her legs. She missed shaving immensely, but she was going to miss a clean shirt even more. She rinsed her hair and shook out what water she could. "Gus... you there?" She called. She wasn't far, just a few yards really.

"Yea, you ok?" he called back, avoiding peeping on her by staring the other direction. He had to keep an eye out for zombies after all.

"Fine." She called back. "You think you can toss me the black shirt in my bag? You see where all the clothes are hanging right? Just aim for that." She was nearly dry, leaning against a rock with her feet still in the water. With a shirt she could retrieve underthings on her own. That was another thing that bothered her about traveling with others. Especially men. She knew the Padre wouldn't likely spy on her, but a 12 year old boy?

Gus really had no interest in spying. He had seen his Mom naked on accident once and it was scary looking. This woman was probably no different. After rummaging through the bag, he pulled out the black shirt. "Got it... here!" he shouted, tossing it in her general direction.

It snagged on a limb but at least it didn't fall into the water. "I'll be out in a sec." She called back, pulling the shirt over her head. It was long enough to hide the naughty bits until she grabbed underwear from her bag.

Gus glanced around and could see snipets of her flesh through the bushes and trees. He gulped and faced forward again. Curious, he peeked into his own shirt, down at his chest.

Max came around the brush with an arm load of wet clothes. "Better get your shoes on." She said brushing past him. "I need you to hold these while I do something."

"Do what?" Gus said, jumping a bit when Max was suddenly right behind him. He looked around and spotted his shoes. Going to them, Gus waited for a reply as he sat down and slipped them on.

Once he got them on Max dropped their clothes in his arms, going as far as to cover his head with a shirt so she could slip into some underwear. The bra could wait for now. "Ok." She said once she slipped into her spare pants and boots. "Give me these back." She took the clothes and handed him the pack. He'd done pretty good for only having one arm. "I bet you don;t even feel that arm any more do you?"

"The strap thingy hurts a bit on my shoulder." he admitted, looking down at it. As the meds coursed through his thin body, it was more annoying then anything.

"The backpack or the bandage?" She asked. She was marveling that he was still even awake after a dose of pain killer like that. "I can take the backpack."

"Ok. But be careful. Barnaby doesn't like it when you walk too fast." he explained, turning around so she could help him out of the pack.

Max took the backpack and shouldered it. "Alright." She told him. "But I'm checking that bandage when we get back. Can you walk out in front and keep any eye out? I can't very well watch out for us with this pile of clothes in my arm."

"Sure... it was this way, right?" he asked, heading in a random direction. The wrong one, of course. Honestly, he was too focused on his arm to even realize how they got there in the first place.

"Left." Max told him smiling. "I'll teach you all about keeping your direction and knowing where your going." She told him. "I'll keep us on track for now, but you have to watch out for zombies."

As Max started off she realized something, she hadn't seen nor heard the Father come back by on his way back from getting his pack.

Max frowned... she should look for him, but she wasn't in a fit state to do that at the moment. She needed unburden her arms and get Gus in a place where he could relax and sleep. She debated which of the two options were more important. Securing Gus, or searching for the padre? The Padre had a weapon, Gus was a child... Gus. She would take him back to camp, throw on her pads and go in search of him.

It seemed that her decision making was all for not, because as soon as she made her decision there was the distinctive sound of footsteps approaching.

"Ssst." She hissed, trying to get Gus' attention. She grabbed him by the arm, put her finger to her mouth to ensure that he be quiet, then shoved him in a bush. She tossed the clothes on top of him and gestured sternly to stay quiet. She then left him there to see who or what was coming their way. She might be paranoid, but she was only trying to be cautious. After all, she hadn't expected to find the padre out here, there could be someone else around too. She lifted her rifle and looked through the scope in teh direction of the sound.

As she looked through the scope, she was able to make out the black outfit that Hanson was wearing. Something else caught her eye, but it was hard to tell if it was just a something moving in the wind or something else.

Gus winced and grunted a bit when she grabbed his shoulder. He made an 'oof!' sound when he was shoved into a shrub. The seriousness in her eyes made him shut up in an instant.

Max relaxed when she saw Hanson, but she squinted, trying to decern what the other thing was.

As she squinted she realized that there were a few people following behind Hanson wearing what looked like some military camo.

"Ahh shit..." Max groaned and shouldered her rifle. "Gus, get up." She went to him and took up the clothes. She slung them over her shoulder and grabbed Gus' good hand. She drug him along at a hurried gate towards the bathroom. "I seriously have to have a discussion with that priest." She growled. "We gotta hurry." The one thing on her mind right now was preventing being raped by a bunch of gun toting strangers. Guys like those she'd killed in town yesterday wouldn't give two fucks about having a go at Gus ether. He was still soft, unspoiled, as good as a girl in that respect. She had to get him to the bathroom, have him lock the door and make sure no one knew he was there.

"What's going on?" he asked cautiously as Max dragged him through the woods. "What did you see?" there was fear in his voice. "More zombies?" He wasn't in any condition to fight.. or run for that matter.

"Worse." Max said as she jerked him up over a fallen log nearly hard enough to dislocate his other arm. "The Padre found people. We can't trust people Gus. People will get us killed or kill us if we're not careful. So you're going to hide in the bathroom while I make sure it's safe."

"Can I have Barnaby?" he ask, worried for his beloved comrade. "I'll make sure he's quiet, I promise. I don't want him getting hurt... and you too, please be careful." Gus said, sounding concerned. If she was dead, so was he.

"The cat will be fine." Max told him, though unless it was following them now she had no idea where it was. If she could manage to grab the thing and chuck it in with Gus she would, but they had to make it back to camp first. At least they were running while the Padre and his new friends were walking. That gave her a little extra time.

"Are you going to kick their asses?" he asked, using a strong swear for someone his age. "What if they are friendly?"

"I gotta find that out first." Max told him. "We might have to run. You think you can tie everything on my bike while your hiding?" She knew he would have a hard time of it with only one arm, but when the time came she wanted to hop on and go. Padre be damned.

"I can try." Gus said, hoping he could do at least that much. He was having trouble running like this. The loss of his arm created an imbalance, not to mention his legs were a lot shorter then Max's.

Finally they made it to the clearing and Max let go of him. "Get to the bathroom." She ordered and broke for her bike. Thankfully she'd caught a glimpse of it from where the Padre had hidden it in the treeline. If the sun hadn't glinted off the crome she never would have seen it. She grabbed the handle bars, kicked up the stand and ran it into the women's bathroom. She knew Gus wouldn't be able to do much with only one arm so she grabbed a section of rope from her bag, through the bundle of clothes onto the back of the pack tied on the bike and looped the rope through once to tie them down. Gus could secure the bundle better while he was hiding. "Alright." She said. "Stay quiet, lock the door. Don't open it for anyone but me. Understand?" she said this while strapping on her knee pads, grabbing a pocket's worth of ammunition from her bag and a spare clip for her pistol.

Gus did what she said and listened closely to her instruction. He seemed nervous, after all- he had lost much recently. "Don't do something dumb and get shot, ok? Ok?!"

"I won't." Max told him and before she knew what she was doing she'd kissed him on top the head before leaving. She locked the door, closed it behind her and a moment later he could hear her scaling the pick nick tables against the side of the building, then on the roof. She groaned, sighed, slipped into her elbow pads and took to her belly. She peered through her scope in the direction she'd seen the padre walking.

As Max watched the treeline, she spotted Hanson and four men in shoddy camo come out of the treeline. The four men all had guns ready and Hanson had his hands held together closely, looked like they might be bound at the wrist. He stumbled over a bit of tree stump and fell to the ground. The one in the front walked by him, giving him a rough yank back to his feet. In the silence she could hear the man talking. "Alright holy man. I know you got others wit 'cha. Where da fuck are they?"

Hanson just winced before shaking his head. "I told you, I am by myself."

Max sighed, perhaps it was a good thing she hadn't confessed yet. By her count they were a good four hundred yards away... not a problem. At this distance they'd never be able to tell where the shots had come from and she could take out all four of them before they shot the padre. Her mag held five shots, one less than she was going to need.

"Yea right holy man." The guy said as he pushed Hanson forward. The other three goons followed close together and kept their guns ready for anything. It seemed like the smelled an ambush. "Now, Imma ask you again if there is anyone here waiting for us. If you say no, my guys are gonna start searching and if they find someone we ain't gonna give you the special treatment anymore."

"I told you that there is no one with me." Hanson said again, "I was out hunting the abominations that killed a man nearby."

Max couldn't hear them at this distance but she could see now that they had no intentions of treating the padre with any sort of mercy. She could see his hands tied and enough weapons to keep them armed for another three months or more. At this angle she couldn't get the one directly behind the Padre, he was too well hidden by the priest's shape. Instead she chose the one closest, hoping the blood splatter might stun them for a moment and give her an extra second or to to eject her brass and reload. A head shot was possible at this distance, but risky. She checked the wind and leveled the cross hairs on the nose of the man closest to Hanson and his guard. By compensating for wind drag and the drop of the bullet the shot should at least blow out his heart or take a lung... or both. She took a deep breath, let half of it out and squeezed. The report of the rifle would follow impact by the slug and hopefully that would give her another second also.

The sharp crack of a rifle shot and the following blood spray, caused Hanson to flinch and stumble over, as the man to his left dropped to the ground writhing for a few moments before ceasing all movement. Before he could work his own way back to his feet, he was jerked up violently by the man right behind him. "Hm, seems like little old holy man wasn't so truthful after all."

Max was able to see her target go down and eventually die, but, acting quicker then anticipated, the person with Hanson grabbed the preacher up and held him like a shield infront of him. He waved a shot gun in the air before pushing the barrel of it hard against the Father's head. "I don't have any problem killing this holy man. So unless you want him dead you come out from where you're hiding and drop your weapons. If you don't within 10 seconds, or you kill another of my men, I will fucking end this man."

"Yeah yeah..." Max whispered as she ejected her cartridge and loaded another. She sighted in his shoulder, seeing it peek out slightly behind the padre. At this distance it was too risky trying to shoot such a small target behind the preacher. She could easily hit him, but several inches below his shoulder protruded the stock of the weapon. One of several things could happen when she fired. She could hit the weapons stock as she intended and enough wood and shrapnel would incapacitate this guy long enough for Hanson to escape. She could hit the man's arm and likewise incapacitate him but cause a reaction that made his squeeze the trigger and kill the padre. Or she could completely screw this up and kill both Hanson and this guy with the same bullet. She only had ten seconds to decide... She decided in five and squeezed the trigger.

The gun's stock detonated, showering Hanson and the captor with splinters of wood and sending the gun spiraling to the ground. The downside was one of the surviving guys spotted the gun's flash, pointing it out to everyone else before they opened fire on it. The man behind Hanson shook his hand painfully, "Looks like your friend doesn't care too much about your well-being." With that he shoved Hanson forward a few steps before pulling out a pistol and shooting him once in both legs. "Don't go anywhere. We'll be back." With that the group charged the restrooms, firing the entire time.

Max stayed where she was for the moment. She let the distance of her position waste their ammunition. After all pistils and shotguns weren't at all accurate at four hundred yards. For the shotguns she calculated that if they took the time to aim and were firing buck shot rather than bird, one of them might be able to hit her small target at fifty or forty yards, but not the current four hundred they were now quickly turning into three fifty. Their pistol fire wouldn't be accurate till they were about twenty or thirty yards away. She had some time to pick off a couple more before they swarmed her position. She found one of the men in her scope and led the bullet a few paces before she squeezed the trigger.

Gus nearly leapt out of his skin when the shot rang out. He was scared, but he wanted to see what was going on. Had he been in the boy's room he may have been able to see through the roof, but here in the girl's room he could only imagine what was happening outside.

The bullet went a bit shy of its target and kicked up dirt near the guy. This new found motivation spurred them forward as they quickly covered the ground between her and them. Their bullets were becoming more accurate.

She had the advantage that the treeline ended, but that would put them too close to her. There were three of them left and that would raise the difficulty level as they got closer. She rolled away from the edge of the roof and dropped down on the front side, away from their fire. She then circled around to the pick nick tables and took a stand, she lost sight of their boss but her former target was much closer now. His chest stood wide and broad in her cross hairs, so she squeezed. She immediately ejected the cartridge to load another, knowing this was her last round. Their boss would soon be too close for the mauser so she'd have to rely on her shotgun... wait, her shotgun was with the bike, she only had the glock that had been strapped in her dockers clutch before going to the creek to bath.

There was a burst of blood as the man was knocked backwards to the ground. The only problem presented to her know was that the other two had vanished while she was focused on the now dead man.

Max wasn't stupid. She stashed her rifle inside the structure Gus had insisted they build as a shelter and slipped off for the bathrooms. The small alcove outside the doors would provide a funnel for when the two remaining men came around in search for her. It would put them close, but she now had heavy defensive walls all around her save for the entrance way to the alcove. They couldn't get into Gus, but she knew if they decided to check the roof they could get in through the hole in the men's room ceiling. The door was locked, but that was from the inside. This door was right next to her, so she wedged herself in the alcove to keep it shut. The heavy steel would keep her safe if someone tried shooting their way out and she was close enough to hear inside to some degree. With her pistol in hand she waited and kept her ears peeled for the sound of footsteps around her.

The only sound that was heard was heard by Gus. These were the faint footsteps of someone moving around on the roof, and getting closer to the hole.

Gus didn't know what to think about the noise, but it was best to play it safe. There wasn't anywhere to hide really, but he chose to tuck himself in the back corner of the last stall, curled up near the rear of the toilet.

Max hated not knowing what was going on around her. She also hated being short on ammunition. Gus had the rest of her gear safe in the girl's bathroom. She only had her pistol and one extra magazine. She didn't consider her pocket knife a weapon considering it didn't shoot a projectile.

The foot steps stopped and there was a very silent grunt before the sound of someone trying to drop down silently into the men's restroom, quickly followed by a muffled gag.

That was NOT Max. Gus grit his teeth, wishing he had means of protecting himself. Who was this guy? Why did they want to kill them? Most importantly... where was Max!?

Max was closer than Gus knew, but she didn't hear anything coming from inside the men's room, not yet any way. There was at least a nine foot drop from the hole in the roof to the floor. There was no way she'd miss the sound of the man dropping onto the floor.

When the man dropped it made a faint splat followed by more muffled gagging and retching.

Now that Max heard. She could hear the coughing and retching and knew now would be the perfect time to open the door and fill him full of bullets... but the door was locked from the inside. With her foot wedged against the door and her body braced there, he was trapped... but did she want him trapped? If she went to the other side by the girls room then when he tried coming from the door she could shoot him and still have a line of sight out the alcove entrance way... She moved, slipping across the explain like a drop of rain off a high waxed paint job. She moved away from the door and took refuge by the girl's room.

The men's room door creaked open slowly, but just a crack. The guy wasn't stupid, he knew that she was around somewhere and was trying to get a sight on her first.

Max waited, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. She made sure to keep a close eye on the alcove entrance. It could only take a second for the other man to come around the side. She was a good shot, killing zombies had helped to hone that skill, but she could get shot if she wasn't careful and the Padre still needed help.

The door crept open a bit more before coming to a sudden stop. If Max looked hard she could see the person inside peeking out. Shortly after the door stopped, the barrel of a shotgun slid out aimed right at her.

Max fired three shots, directly at the face peeking out beyond the edge of the door. All the while her sphincter tightened at the knowledge of that shotgun rising to meet her. During those three rapid shots she spoke a thousand prayers that it was loaded with buckshot. At least at the distance between them a spray of pellets wouldn't necessarily kill her. She didn't have the extra protection of her usual layers of clothing. One thing was sure, Gus would hear the three loud pops from right outside the girl's bathroom door.

Gus almost wet himself. What was going on out there?! Those shots were really loud and no doubt right outside of his door. He didn't want to die yet! He huddled closer and covered his ears with his hands tightly.

The man fell back as the bullets connected, he also fired off a shot. Luckily the shot was high and just kicked up brick dust off the wall next to her. Unluckily, however, was the correctness of her hunch as the boss popped around the entrance way and fired off two shots into the shoulder of the arm holding the gun. "You twitch and I kill you and your holey little friend out there." The bad pun seemed to entertain him greatly as he sported a wicked grin.

She didn't release the gun but she did go down. Great, just great. In about five minuets this guy was going to bust a load off inside her while she squirmed and groped for some way to incapacitate him. Then he'd find Gus and probably turn him into a soprano by evening. Perhaps it was a bit perverse expecting to be turned into some fat slob's fuck toy, but it wouldn't be the first time someone had tried. She was now doubled over onto her elbow, on her knees, holding the glock against her stomach. It took everything left in her to keep from dropping the pistol. She couldn't, this seven pound hunk of plastic and steel was the only thing that was going to keep her safe and it still had ten rounds in it. The real question was how many shots could she get off before her arm failed her and she filled him full of holes?

"Now I know that you got a little loaded friend hidden there. I'm going to need you to toss that out of your reach." the man said as he stayed partially hidden from Max. "You till alive Jims?" he asked, assumeably the guy in the bathroom. His question garnered a pained groan and the door getting kicked open. The man stepped out clutching his shoulder and with a deep graze on the side of his head and a hole in his ear, both were bleeding pretty nicely. "Meh, you'll live."

Great... at least there would be some variety when they decided to rape her. She was however reluctant to let go of the pistol. "I can't move my arm..." She whimpered. It hurt like hell, but she sure as hell didn't have to whimper. She did it because it made her sound weak, helpless. "Where's Roy?" She asked, whimpered again. "You killed him didn't you you fuck!" The last thing they needed to know was that she was alone.

When he heard the voices, Gus hesitantly got to his feet and stepped out of the stall. He took slow, quiet steps toward the door so he could hear. He could deduce that it had been Max whom was shot. Gus had to do something! Max had given him a shotgun and a pistol. He vaguely knew how to use it from movies and such. The shotgun was a bit heavy to hold with his torn shoulder, but he figured the bigger gun would do more damage. Holding the butt of the gun between his legs, he loaded the next round. Readying it in his good arm, Gus slowly unlocked the door. It was faint, only enough for Max to hear.

The two guys looked at each other and then the guy in the bathroom turned and looked in at the corpse. "Unless it's dis guy, we don't know who you're talking about." The boss guy just waved it off. "You got two arms, use the other one to toss your gun to my friend over there. I ain't got all day."

Max heard the lock click and her stomach felt cold. Gus was safer if he stayed hidden. She almost wanted to put her foot against the door to keep him inside... but he was smart. He'd heard all this shooting, he knew there were weapons on her bike. He wouldn't be unlocking the door if he didn't have a plan. "I can't!" She bawled, turning on the tears as she acted more hurt than she normally would have. "It hurts!" She began swaying, clutching her shoulder with her good hand as she stayed bowed over, whimpering. Normally she'd have slapped a woman for acting like this.

Gus swallowed hard. He didn't know Max was acting and it made his blood boil and his heart leap. Then, all at once, he kicked the door open and took one step out. "STOP IT!" he shouted and fired toward the figure standing at the other bathroom entrance. Gus hadn't even time to look at the expression of shock on his face before taking his shot. The spray of ammunition flared outward, pelting the stranger in various spots. From such a close distance, he was pretty screwed.

Thank God for small favors. Max felt the door hit her feet as Gus burst through it. The report of the shotgun over Gus' voice filled her with a perverse sense of joy. He had given her her chance. She raised up and using all the strength left in her right arm she fired off five successive shots directly at the bastard in front of her. She fired as she rose, seeing it almost in slow motion as she saw the first bullet miss between his legs and kick up dirt behind him. The second shot made her smile as it ruined his chances at ever bearing children or taking a normal piss ever again. the next three were so fast she could only guess they went from the abdomen to the belly and lastly in the chest.

The first man dropped with a burst of blood and didn't look like he was going to be getting up this time. The boss man stumbled backwards before falling to the ground. He coughed up some blood before muttering, "Fucking kids." then his chest stopped rising.

Max didn't move till she saw his chest stop rising. Everything in her arm told her to drop the pistol, but she didn't dare. She found herself groping for Gus with her left hand, the moment she felt the fabric of his clothes she jerked him towards her into her arms. He felt her release a shuddering sigh almost as if she were choking back tears. "Are you ok?" she squawked

Gus dropped the gun, letting it clank to the concrete and hugged her tightly. "Yes! You said you wouldn't get yourself hurt!" he said, crying himself.

"I didn't mean to..." Max croaked. She cleared her throat. She didn't want to cry, she wasn't an emotional kind of person. It was just the release of tension after nearly being killed. "I'm sorry..." She told him, unable to stop the tear from streaming down her face. She wasn't sobbing though. She never sobbed. "I'll try not to let it happen again."

"Such an idiot!" Gus said, pulling back, looking at her wound. "Is it bad? Did you find the Hanson guy? Who are these people?" He looked at the corpse he shot, "Oh God I KILLED SOMEONE!" 

Max grabbed him and gave him a bit of a jerk to keep him from freaking out too much. "Don't." She growled. "Don't you dare feel guilty about it." she ordered. "They'd have killed the priest and raped the two of us till we weren't any fun, then they'd have killed us. Hell Gus, they'd probably have eaten us too. So don't you dare give a fuck about blowing that piece of shit away. You understand me?"

He sniffled, "O-oh kay." he said, staring wide at Max when he was shook out of it.

"We have to go help Hanson." She told him. With her good left arm she groped for the shotgun he'd dropped. She ejected the cartridge and pointed to the bathroom. "Get more ammunition." She told him and winced as she ejected her magazine. She only had five rounds left. "Bring me two more of these ok?"

He nodded and ran into the bathroom. He grabbed the pistol and the ammunition with one hand. "My shoulder is starting to hurt." he said, handing over the supplies.

"I know." She told him. "Mine too..." She used the door knob to pull herself upright and almost slipped in her own blood. She knew she should stop the bleeding, but she had to bring Hanson to shelter before the adrenalin stopped pumping and she passed out. "We ave to hurry." She told him. "You'll have to keep us covered why I help Hanson into the bathroom, understand?"

"No problem." he said, wanting to play his part and protect them for a change. There was a meek "mew" and Barnaby walked over from the trees hesitantly.

Max raized her pistol with her left hand and sighed when she saw it was the cat. "Put him in the bathroom." She told Gus. "We're gonna be a little too busy to keep an eye on him."

"I can't leave him all alone..." he said, frowning at even the suggestion. He walked over and picked the little kitty up into his good arm. "He's scared."

Max didn't have to patience for this right now. "He's a cat Gus. If he didn't run away from all this shooting, he's not as scared as you think he is."

"I'm not leaving him!" Gus said quickly. Barnaby had been his companion for months. He wasn't about to leave him alone again. Especially after all this fighting. "I don't want anyone to shoot him."

"Then put him in the fucking bathroom!" She shouted, pointing at the cat with her pistol because her right arm hung limp and bloody at her side. was he really arguing with her while she stood there bleeding and Hanson was laying out there somewhere?

He had no idea of Hanson's condition. Nevertheless, he held firm to his cat and argued, "No!" Max was swearing at him and that didn't sit well.

Max didn't care. Not with two holes in her arm and their new allie out there bleeding in the forest. "Fine." She said as she started in Hanson's direction. "When I get shot trying to drag the padre back to camp you can bury us both by yourself." Did she just throw some of her grandmother's Spanish guilt back at Gus? It sounded odd coming out of her mouth like that. She headed towards the forest from the angle she had last seen him through her scope.

Gus frowned and bent down by the bathroom door. He dropped Barnaby and pulled a tin from his pack and peeled the top off, leaving it in the bathroom with the cat. He regretfully left him there, picking up the pace to catch up with Max.

When he caught up to her she glanced at him and muttered, "Sorry... get moody when I've been shot... The Padre's been shot too... he's probably gonna have trouble walking."

Gus stayed quiet, feeling a bit upset right now. With all this going on, he worried about keeping everyone together, cat included.

Max let him walk in silence and wished she'd thought ahead and done something about her bleeding arm. One didn't really think so clearly when their adrenalin was pumping like her's had been. She walked with Gus the quarter of a mile to where Hanson was supposed to be. "Padre?" She called, hoping that there weren't any more goons out here to open fire on them. "Father Hanson..." She sagged against a tree and hissed, forgetting about her shoulder. She was beginning to feel light headed. "Hanson!"

Hanson had been crawling towards them the entire time, leaving a very noticeable blood trail smeared into the grass. "Max? Gus?" he managed to say, barely loud enough to be heard by them. The loss of blood was starting to have an affect.

Thankfully their search had put them close enough to Hanson that max had heard him. "Padre!" She shouted and came crunching to a halt next to him in the grass. He could obviously see that he wasn't the only one who'd been shot. She'd grown deathly pale since yelling at Gus about the cat. "I'm gonna kill you later, but for now you gotta get up. You gotta walk." She was already trying to help him onto his feet. She was too small to carry him outright, but between the three of them they had to get back to the bathroom. They'd need shelter if any undead heard those shots and came to check out the noise. "Come on Padre, up..."

Gus did his best to be a grown up and ignore the pile of smeared blood on the grass. He went to the priest's other side and grabbed his arm.

Hanson did his best to stand, but wasn't much help. "I'm sorry...got my bag..waiting for me...jumped me, said they heard me talking to you...dragged me back here to find you two." He tried to explain himself through ragged breaths.

"They're dead." Max groaned, lifting him against her wounded arm. It hurt like hell but it reminded her that she couldn't pass out just yet. She needed her good arm to hold onto his so she could help him walk. "I guess it's a good thing I hadn't confessed yet..." She smiled, but she felt more like leaving him here with a bullet in his head for leading them back to her and Gus.

"This isn't good...is it?" Gus asked, hobbling with the two of them. He had dislocated his shoulder, Max had been shot in her arm and Hanson was shot once in each leg. They were screwed and even he knew it.

"We'll be ok..." Max said, knowing that it was a partial lie. "I know enough to patch us up and I think I still have some antibiotics." If she did she knew she didn't have enough. Not for her and Hanson any way... They'd need to find another town soon and that would mean traveling with all of them wounded... movement would speed any infections they ended up with... Maybe she could cauterize their wounds and minimize the possibility of infection...

This had all gone downhill alarmingly fast. Just a few hours ago, Max had promised him a nice cooked rabbit to eat. Now he was dragging two adults with what little strength he had

Hanson had closed his eyes and was muttering what sounded like a prayer, only it was for the souls of the men that Max and Gus had just killed. "They were sad men who...only knew one way...to survive. Unfortunately, it was a bad way." Then he turned his head, weakly, to Gus. "Don't worry child. God watches over us and protects us."

"Shut up." Max told Hanson as he prayed for those men. "You can give them last rights later, but I don't care what you say, they deserve hell."

"You guys should stop talking." Gus said. Even someone so young could hear the weakness in their breaths.

Max grit her teeth and jerked Hanson's shoulder into a better grip. This may have all been an accent, but those bastards didn't deserve his prayers.

Hanson was going to defend his actions about praying for the souls of the men, but he was currently on the edge of passing out. He was no longer able to hold his head up and his eyes were slowly drifting shut. He was also not moving his legs in any sibilance of walking.

Max could feel him sagging and was just about to tell him that he'd better not pass out, when his legs quit working and pulled her over onto him as she lost balance and they both went down. "Damnit..." She groaned. "Don't do this!" She grabbed the front of his robe and smacked him hard across the face. She couldn't slow down. She'd pass out if she did. "Wake up!"

Hanson didn't respond, he was nearly gone and still losing blood.

Gus's eyes were wide and he stepped away from the two. No doubt hordes of zombies were on their way right now after those gunshots. "Ohgodohgodohgod....he's losing a lot of blood." he said, frowning at the river they had made on their way here. "We need to tie it off or something."

"Give me your bandanna." Max ordered him and proceeded to tear a strip from the bottom of her shirt. Turning a perfectly good t-shirt into a tank top in a matter of seconds. she proceeded to single handedly tie the strip of shirt around the worst of the two wounds. She had to tie it off by grabbing one end with her teeth.

Gus ripped it off and handed it over. "We need to do the same for you..." he said as he watched her arm drip some crimson liquid. He pulled off his shirt, not having anything else on him right now. "Will this work?"

Max used her teeth and tied off the second bandage. She looked at Gus and took his shirt. "Come here." She said and began untieing the ace bandage that had held his arm fixed in position. She knew his dislocation would hurt, but he was right, if she lost more blood there was no way he could defend two unconsious adults. She tore off her shirt and wadded it up, handing it to him. He could see now that she had two bullet wounds. One in her upper arm and another on the torso side of her shoulder. "Here." She said handing it to her. "Hold it on the back." She turned her back to him to reveal the black red exit wound that oozed with red. "You'll have to help me." She placed his shirt against her chest and tossed him the ace bandage. "Pull it around under by left arm and I'll feed it back to you. It has to be tight."

Gus did the best he could, seriously grossed out by all the blood. He would normally feel very faint, but his adrenalin kept him alert. With a firm hand, he pulled the shirt knot tight, away from her body with as much force as his small arm could muster. "How's that? Are you going to be ok?"

"Good good." Max sighed. It was obvious that she was pale and doing everything to keep her faculties up. "Give me his belt." She said pointing to hanson as she took off her own.

Gus was so busy focusing on the adults that he hadnt even taken the time to look around in their surroundings. Still, he did as she commanded and went to the priest's waist. On his knees, he worked the buckle, struggling a little with his hurt shoulder. Eventually it came loose and he yanked it out from under him. "Here."

Max looped it and slipped it over Hanson's head and shoulders. She cinched it under his armpits and attached her's. They could drag him now. Max stood and swooned, she grabbed Gus' good shoulder to steady herself and nearly toppled him over with her.

"Don't be stupid now!" Gus shouted, wanting to snap her out of it. He was half naked and had two nearly dead adults with him. "If you go down, I'll die too!"

"I'mnotI'mnotI'mnot..." Max said said as if she were trying to talk herself out of it. Then Gus got to see something rather strange. Max slapped herself. Hard. Three times. She had to stay awake, she couldn't pass out. She grabbed the belt attached to Hanson and began to pull. This was much harder than she'd thought it would have been. Gus didn't have a belt and his shoelaces were too short, but 't. Max knelt and began pulling her laces from her boots. Good old fashioned combat boots had laced that were a good fifty inches long. She tied them together at the ends and looped one end to the belt around Hanson's torso.She handed her belt to Gus and took the shoestrings. "Help me." She told him.

Gus shook his head, "No, we need to get you secure." Hanson could be dead for all he knew. He was a stranger to Gus... but Max... she was much more then that. "I can't lose you!"

"I'll be fine..."She said pulling without his help. "If I die, without him to absolve me, I'd be worse off... I need your help Gus... I can't let him die."

"I can't let you die more!" he argued, moving to help where he could.

"It's a clean shot." She told him,tugging along easier now with Gus helping. She could see the bathroom in the far distance, but at least she could see it. "If the bullet were still inside you could worry more... Blood loss is the real danger... once we get the Padre squared away we can work on me... Then we'll both need food to replenish our blood... You think you can cook? Build a fire in the girl's room while I work on the Padre?"

"Yes." he said confidently, though he would have to figure it out when the time came. "Hold it together, we are almost there!" Gus recalled the dead bodies surrounding the doors... he really didn't want to see those again.

He was going to have to deal with it because now with his help they were coming up on the bathroom much quicker now. Max was using every ounce of strength she had left and once Hanson's body hit the grass, he surge forward with the lack of friction and she face planted directly into the ground.

"MAX!" Gus moved forward, falling onto his knees to her aid. "Are you alright?! Don't pass out! Please please please!"

There was a staggered stream of Spanish from Max as she pulled herself up. From television Gus might have understood one or two as curses. "I'm fine." She finally lied in English. She grabbed his good shoulder and used him to brace herself. "We're almost there..." Cover was the first thing on her mind. At least with cover, four walls and a roof, the zombies couldn't get them.

"Just stay strong for a little longer and then you can rest up." Gus said, hoping that would encourage her. Gus grabbed the priest with both hands, ignoring his bad shoulder and pulled with all his might, hoping to get their sooner and take some of the work off of Max.

Hanson slid forward much easier and the space between them and the bathroom closed dramatically. They drug him into the bathroom where the cat meowed at them from inside one of the sink basins. "Fire." Max reminded Gus. "I;ll see to Hanson. ON the slick floor she could move him by herself. She slid him against the far wall near where Gus had hidden earlier and took ten seconds to catch her breath. Then she went to her backpack an searched for a can of Sterno, what left over antibiotics she had and feminine napkins. The later being perfect for staunching blood flow. That was another thing she learned in the army.

Gus nodded and ran out of the bathroom and to the treeline. He frantically started to collect sticks, twigs and the like. Gus would then sprint back, drop it off and hurry to gather more.

Max knelt by the padre and lit the Sterno. She used the stove and placed her pocket knife on the metal rack to sterilize the blade. She squirted some purell on her hands and was glad he was unconscious as she probed for bullet and bone fragments in the worse of the wounds, thankfully the bullet had passed through without hitting the bone. She used clean water from her canteen to clear as much blood away as she could and proceeded to cauterize the wound. Out here stitches could pull and become infected, a burn was much easier to keep clean in her opinion. She sensed Gus pass in and out a couple times as she plucked bullet fragments from the padre's second wound. The leg was very possibly broken, but she didn't find any slivers of bone, which was good. She cauterized that one as well and wrapped both wounds with make shift bandages made from the feminine napkins. To ensure that the leg was not broken she grabbed the padre's foot and straightened the leg out as best she could. She felt no pop of bone sliding back together or grinding, but it could still be fractured. When Gus came back with the last load of wood she beckoned him to her. "I'll start the fire, but listen very carefully." She told him. "I need two strong sticks about this long." She held up her hands about two feet apart. "We have to splint his leg."

"You got it! I'll be back in a jiffy!" Gus said, pleased that Max seemed at least a little more alert now that she was sitting. After a salute, he booked it out of the bathroom once more and into the trees. He was very out of breath, but he had to keep going. The others were counting on him.

"We're gonna be ok..." Max sighed and looked at the bottle of antibiotics. Only enough for one round... if that... She didn't have time to consider who was going to get them though. "Shit..." She muttered, swooning and fell back against the floor. Unconscious.

Gus was gone for probably about five minutes before he found the perfect logs for Hanson's legs. Pleased with himself, he headed back to the bathroom, jumping over one of the corpses. "Found 'em!" he said proudly, but the logs soon clanked onto the cement floor when he saw Max laying there, face down in a pool of blood. "MAX!" he shouted, running to her aid. He slid on his knees, scraping them up quite a bit. "Max! HEY!" He wedged himself under her and rolled Max over to her back. "WAKE UP! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" he shouted, slapping her face a bit as tears streamed down his face.

The multiple slaps was what did it. He saw her eyes flutter open in recognition and close again. She made a weak defeated sound and her eyes fluttered again. "Gus..." She said softly...

"Max?!" Gus's eyes lit up, relieved she was alive...for now. "Max don't die... please please please!" he begged whilst sobbing like the child he was. He bent over her and wrapped his arms around Max's chest, nuzzling his head against her collar bone. "Please please please..."

"Gus..." She whispered. "I... gime..." she pointed to a small zipper bag that she'd pulled from her backpack. It was the same bag she'd pulled his pill from earlier and the antibiotics. She groped lazily in the direction of the bag.

"What?" Gus grabbed it and sat up, pulling things out of it and showing them to her, "What do you need..this?!...this?!" The second thing he lifted up was a small container with a blue cap. Gus saw Max's head bob slightly when he held it up and he ripped the cap off, dropping it to the ground. "It's..it's going to be ok." he sniffed, bringing it closer. "Here we go." he said, inching the small tube end into her nostril. "Inhale." he said, squeezing the container and sending a surge of mist into her.

Good. He was a smart boy. She inhaled slowly, then when the epinephrin hit it was like a spark going off in her brain. She sniffed harder. "More." She told him and when he squeezed again she inhaled sharply. She took two or three more hits and felt more alert. "Gus... your gonna have to clean them and make sure there's no bone fragments inside. Can you do that?"

"How? With my finger!?" Gus asked, dreading such a thing as he stared hard at her bullet hole in her arm.

Max nodded. "I don't have any tweezers." She told her. "There's sanitizer there." She said pointing next to Hanson. "Use it, feel for something sharp, pull it out... all out. Then use the knife." And Gus could see the knife sitting on the edge of the Sterno stove with the flame beneath it.

He gulped and shuffled to Max's arm and bit his lip. "Ok.. I'll try..." He thought of something and left her side for only a second to return with a stick. "Here." he said, holding it in front of her mouth to bite down on. When she was ready, Gus got into position and brought his index finger near the hole. Max was lucky that Gus's fingers were as small as they were..but the pain was still there as he dug it into the opening.

He could hear her teeth dig into the stick and her good arm flung out for something to grab onto. She inadvertently backhanded the door of the stall nearest to her, groaned as it slammed against the inside of the stall and she grabbed the frame of the door rather than grabbing Gus. Her entire body tensed as she knew the best thing to do was to try and stay still until he was done. He heard the heels of her boots squeak against the tile floor as they found no friction in the mess that was her and the Padre's blood.

"There's nothing! I can't feel anything." Gus said, taking his finger out. "Just guts!" He pulled off the bloody sling that had once been his but was now Max' and got rid of it. It was just in the way right now.

Max finally relaxed when he pulled his finger free. The urge to pass out was back again, but her hand groped for the now bloody bottle of nasal spray and she finished it off. He needed her awake for now, at least until this worst of the two wounds were cleaned and cauterized. "Clean it." She told him. "Water... So you... can see what you're doing. Take the knife... slip it in. The heat will stop the bleeding. You have to do the exit too... my back..." and then of course there was still her arm too.

Gus nodded and grabbed the canteen next to Hanson. He poured it over her arm, watching as it went in and out of her wound, trickling blood with it. He saved the rest of the water for the cut in her back. Setting it down again, Gus hustled over to the heated knife. He was working a mile a minute, not taking time to think. "Brace yourself." he said and pressed the flat of the knife against the wound.

Max nearly snapped the stick he had given her in two. She felt one booted foot connect with the sink behind Gus as she kicked out. The sent of her own flesh burning reminded her of her father frying pork chops. He'd always refused to cut the fat and that's what this smelled like. Oddly enough, she passed out thinking about how hungry she was.

Taking advantage of Max being knocked out, Gus went on burning the hole shut. The smell was horrendous... not to mention the popping sizzle of her flesh. When the blade cooled, he put it back into the fire and turned Max onto her side with a firm shove.

She was gone, blissfully so and he was doing a good job. Blood vessels were singed shut and finally stopped gushing blood and as long as she didn't crash on him, she would likely be fine. She continued to remain unconscious as he repeated the gesture with the wound in her arm also. Only time would tell whether or not the wounds had been clean enough to prevent infection. After all, they didn't have enough antibiotics for both her and Hanson and Gus had no idea that's what that bottle of pills next to the Padre were.

Gus carefully started to unwrap the wound on her shoulder. There was blood... a lot of it, all over the place. It was hard for him to even see where the bullet hole was. With the last ounces of water, he cleaned her entry and exit wounds like he had on her arm.

This one was worse, deep, but the bullet had completely passed beneath her collar bone, missing the ball of her shoulder and passed directly through the meaty tissue to exit out the back. Had there been more distance between her and the man the bullet may have stuck and Gus's fingers wouldn't have been long enough to remove it. There were no bone fragments inside but he did fine chunks of lead and cement in her exit wound from where the bullet had struck the cement bricks behind her. It made the exit look disfigured and gnarled. Chunks of dried blood and gravely flesh came away as he pulled the t-shirt away. It had sort of stopped bleeding from the pressure, but the moment he started probing for bone, it had begun again. He could easily tell that this was a wound that could kill her if he didn't seal it quickly. If had been from here that she'd lost the most blood.

Gus's hands and arms were soaked in her blood as it flowed freely. Grabbing the blade, he wasted no time and pressed it into her flesh. It burned and sizzled, cutting off the vessels almost instantly.

Max probably did herself more harm than good by waking just then screaming. She had no stick to bite into this time, had nothing to really grab onto. The blade burned deep, twice as deep as the wound on her arm. It only took a second but she couldn't take any more. She snatched Gus's arm, pulling his hand away from the knife. It didn't help because the damn thing was still buried hilt deep inside the wound.

Gus gasped and lost his balance, slipping to his side. "Ah!" he shouted from the surprised. "I'm sorry!" Max's vice grip around Gus's thin wrist hurt like hell, but he was too in shock to pull back.

Max was breathing heavily, threw her gritted teeth. It took several breaths for her to respond. "It's... ok..." She hissed and released Gus's wrist, not knowing that she;d left four crescent moon shaped indention in his skin from her nails. She had not yet realized that she had four inches of hot knife buried in her chest.

"I'm almost done." he said, ignoring the cuts in his wrist for now. He had too much on the line right now.

Max sighed "Almost?" and looked at him, only her view was obstructed by the handle of her pocket knife. "Um Gus... I think you forgot something..."

"Oh ... uhh... close your eyes." he said before slidding out the blade and dipping it into the flames once more.

"GHRNN!" Max groaned and everything tensed for a moment before she collapsed back against the floor. "Let me guess... You have the exit to still do?"

"Sorry..." he said with a wince. "But on the bright side, this really seems to do the trick. You aren't even bleeding anymore... well, on this side.

"It cauterizes the wound." Max told him. "Seals everything by basically cooking it... I duno how much longer I can stay awake... You do have the door locked right?"

"Not yet, I have to get the back." Gus said, taking the knife out of the flame one last time. "Ready? You're almost done... just once more."

"Make it quick." Max said gripping the side of the stall in front of her.

She felt a shooting pain in her torso, as if on fire. Gus was quick, but careful, not wanting to do more damage to her body. He held it for a few seconds before releasing. "Done."

Max whimpered, sighed and rolled onto her back. "Good work..." She told him. "You'll have to make sure we eat... eating will replenish our blood. You have to keep the door locked... just in case... Did you bring my rifel in?"

"Not yet!" Gus argued, "I was busy saving your life, dummy!"

"Just asking..." Max said quietly. She reached for his hand and despite how hard she;d grabbed him earlier, her grip was nowhere near as strong. "You've done a good job Gus... I owe you..."

There was a thump on the door as it swung open, bathing the group in the sunlight. "I owe ya too. Can't kill what's already dead." said a man with a large shotgun propped up on his shoulder. He dropped it down and leveled it at the group. "Now, put da fuckin' knife down or imma pepper you with lead."

(I better get all my gear back.)
(nope!)

Max dropped her head to the floor. After all they'd been threw, this had to happen.

Gus gasped, dropped the knife and stared wide-eyed at the bleach white sunlight as it poured into the bathroom. He couldn't see the figure yet, or was he able to tell how many there were. "Don't kill us, mister! Please!" he begged. Gus was only eleven after all. He lurched forward and rested himself again Max's body, as if trying to protect her. "Please please please please...we didn't do anything wrong!"

"Well, I tink I can go easy on ya. Considerin' you took care of my partner for me, saved me some ammo." the man said as three more silhouettes appeared behind him. "So, instead you just gonna take you wit us and see if we can't find a use for the lot of ya."

Use... Max knew where that was going... her wounds wouldn't stop them and neither would Gus' age... She looked to her right and saw the glock where she'd dropped it to work on Hanson.

"Now, little one. Go ahead and walk out of da bathroom and stand o'er 'ere with my friends." The man said, keeping an eye on the two adults.

"Do as they say Gus..." Max said, using her good left arm to try and pry him off of her. "don;t give them any reason to hurt you."

There was a small "mew" from the sink as a small, calico cat jumped down and went to Gus and Max. It nuzzled his head against the boy's hip. "But... but..." he staggered, not wanting to leave Max's side. He was crying now, he didn't want to die!

"Damn your annoyin'." The man said aggrevatedly, "Shut da fuck up and get da fuck out of da room, or my people will be draggin' your carcass outta here to feed da shufflas."

"I'll be fine Gus." Max told him, trying to sound strong when all she wanted to do was pass out. She wanted to go for the gun, but she knew if she did she couldn't lift it fast enough to shoot before he killed her.

Gus sniffed and cried a bit, getting to his feet slowly. His shirt was gone, currently wrapped up on Max's shoulder. He picked up his cat and kept his head down, slowly walking over to the door.

Max looked at the one with the shotgun, the one who had been barking orders. "Don't hurt the boy." She told him. "I'm the one who killed your buddies. You wanna take it out on someone, take it out on me."

The man laughed and watched as Gus walked out of the bathroom. "Dem weren't my buddies. I was gonna kill 'em anyway, you saved me da trouble. Though, you don't come along all nice 'n quiet like, I will kill the littl'n slowly."

"You have me at a bit of a disadvantage." She told him. "As you can see, I'm not exactly in traveling order."

"Looks like you only bleedin' from one side. Use da other to drag yourself outta here to my helper outside. Don' want you to pull any surprises on us."

"What about the priest?" Max asked. Her body felt heavy and at the same time light. She was relatively certain the lightness was in her head.

Gus stopped in the doorway with his cat clutched against his chest. He looked back and at Max and the priest, not wanting to lose sight with them.

"After we sure he ain't fakin' we'll just haul his holy ass outta here." The man said, obviously getting impatient with all the questions and delays.

"Fair enough..." Max sighed. She began to roll herself over, in the direction of the pistol. It wasn't her main focus though, she carefully grabbed the bottle of antibiotics and slipped them in her pocket as she pulled herself to her knees. She took a moment to let the blood in her brain settle and looked at the pistol... she was closer now. By her count there were five shots left. Three at the guy who came from the bathroom, five more into the prick who shot her. That left five... She had no idea how many guys this dude had...

The man leveled the shotgun straight at her chest, and she knew that at this range it would do little more then punch a hole in her chest. "I don't like da look you got. You do anyting funny and da boy will die. Right afta' you."

"Don't get your thong in a twist." Max told him. She grabbed the side of the bathroom stall with her left hand and pulled herself onto her feet, slipping once in the pool of her own blood. "Mind if I grab a shirt from my gear?" She asked nodding toward her bike, glad that Gus had packed everything up like a good boy. 

Gus was still in the doorway, "Max...." he muttered, his worry obvious in his tone. He just wanted her to follow orders and maybe they would get out of this alive.

"Shaddup." He said to Gus and at his unrelenting whining, "And no, you can't grab anyting! Just get the fuck out of dis fucking bathroom!"

Max, shirtless slowly began to leave, stepping gingerly so she didn't slip in the blood again. She was headed for Gus, automatically wanting to protect him. She'd already decided she was gonna kill that guy.

The man watched her as she walked past him, not even trying to hide his gaze. "If you as good in da bed as you are at killin', den you may live for a long time wit me." he said and was answered by several devious chuckles. He then waved one of the guys over, who walked into the bathroom and, after a few swift safety kicks, picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. "You two, grab all da gear you can find in da area den head back to base. If I find any of ya kept someting, I will fucking burn you alive." he told the two men that were outside rummaging through the corpses pockets and belongings.

Yeah... Max knew how this would go. She expected when she killed him one of them would be naked... She really wished she didn't have two extra holes in her right now. She couldn;t stay virticle for much longer.

When Gus saw her struggling, he started to walk over to give her some help. He slipped the cat into his backpack and zippered it halfway. "Mister, can I help her? She's going to pass out again."

The man in charge of watching Gus stuck his hand out and stopped him from going any further. "If she passes out, it will let us move faster. Win/win."

Max grabbed Gus' good shoulder and steadied herself. "I'll be ok." She said, though it felt more like a lie.

The leader sighed and shook his head. "I tink all dis concern for one anodder is going to make me puke." We turned and started off for the treeline, "Make sure you keep dem from running. If dey try anyting funny, put one in dere leg."

"So...where are we going? And why...?" Gus asked innocently, trying to help Max. "Cause I'm hungry and would really like something to eat."

Max squeezed his shoulder. She'd never properly fed him. They'd started this day hungry and it looked like they'd end it that way. "Quiet Gus..." She wanted to tell him not to ask stupid questions, it's only give them more of a reason to hurt them.

"Yes, quiet Gus." One of the men said, "You'll see where we are going soon enough."

Max' jaw tightened. She hated this. She hated every second of it. She hadn't protected any one and it was likely they'd all die before the week was out. She looked towards the picnick tables to try and see if they'd found her rifle or not.

It looked like the rummaging men hadn't made it to the table yet and were still searching the bathrooms.

"You're not gonna kill us, are you mister? Can't we get along? I mean, we are human...not zombie. We should help eachother." Gus said innocently.

"I think we would get along better if you'd shut the fuck up." The man said aggravated.

Max's grip tightened on Gus' shoulder. "Remember when I said people were more dangerous than zombies?" She asked Gus quietly. "This is why." Her eyes unwittingly stayed on the picnick tables, half hoping that they did find her rifle. If they didn't she would likely never come back this way to retrieve it. If they found it then at least she had a chance of stealing it back when they escaped. She suddenly looked at their boss and asked, "Will you take trade for the boy?" she asked. If they hadn't found her rifle yet then maybe she could barter it for Gus' freedom.

"Say what?!" Gus asked loudly, completely caught off guard by that.

"Why? I already got da boy so his freedom isn't someting you can barter wit." the boss said with a laugh.

"Yeah." Max said. "I'll give you something, you give me him. It's a lot more valuable than a nine year old." She tightened her grip on Gus' shoulder to keep him quiet. They both knew he was eleven.

"You obviously don't know da value of someone dat small." The boss said casually, "Dey can get into spaces dat we tall people can't."

"I'm small." Max told him. "Not as small as him no, but I can get in a hell of a lot of places a kid can't. Besides... I'm sure you saw that guy back there. He was what... 375, 400 yards away. Wouldn't a weapon that could do that be worth the life of one snot nose kid?"

Gus looked at Max with a worried expression. What was she doing!? They both knew he was dead out here by himself. He secretly hoped this was some sort of scheme to get them both out of here... he had no idea though.

"Anyting you own dat is back dhere is soon gonna be mine." the man continued, ducking through the trees and branches. "Again, you ain't got nutin'."

Max looked back behind them. "We'll they've not found it yet." She said turning back to him.

"Dey will." The man said simply, "And if dey don't den I will send 'em back."

"They'll never find it." Max lied. She'd dropped the Mauser inside the shelter they'd built, they wouldn't notice unless they took it apart and there was a 50/50 chance that would happen. "Give me the boy and I'll tell you where it is."

The man just waved his hand in the air, dismissing it. "You don't understand how thorough someone'll be wit da moans of da undead moving in on dem."

"What?" She asked, honestly not understanding what he had said. "Maybe if you get your dick out of your mouth I could understand you."

The man just laughed, "I'm big, but I'm not dat big. Stickin' my dick in my mouth while I'm walkin'." He stopped for a second and looked around to make sure they were going in the right direction before continuing on. "If I send 'em back again to find what you're talkin' bout, da chance of zombies being dhere is higher. Da more times dhey go back, da more zombies dhere are going to be."

"All the better they find it now." Max told him. "We could make this easy or you could loose some mroe men. Is a brat really worth loosing guns over?

"I've got guns. Plenty of dem, don't you worry. When we get back, I will show 'em to ya." The man said. "Now, no more useless talkin'. I wanna be able to enjoy da sound of nature." He accented this by waving his gun around, in a way to say that he would shoot her if he had to.

(guns as in men ree-ree)

Max closed her eyes and sighed. She'd tried. It was mostly to get her rifle back and in the same area she would be in more than saving Gus. Gus would probably be better off with her any way than off on his own.

Gus stayed close to Max. He knew she didn't mean it. She was just trying to help him escape, but he would rather be here with her then out there on his anyway. He glanced her way, then to her bullet holes. Max was awake, that was a good sign.

The man continued to lead the group through and out of the woods to the Abandoned Penitentiary.

- Level Five